


Bullets and Numbering

by ilostmyshoe



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Coping, Gen, Lists, M/M, Men of Letters Headquarters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-27 23:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilostmyshoe/pseuds/ilostmyshoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the SPN Fic Battle. The prompt was "mundane" and the other writer with the same prompt was buticancarryyou. </p><p>Whenever Sam felt anxious and had trouble sleeping he made long, complicated lists about something completely unrelated. The more boring the topic the more effective the coping mechanism was. Sometimes he wrote them down, sometimes they were just in his head, but he never shared them with anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bullets and Numbering

Sam was eight when he first started making lists. He’d just found out the truth about their lives and monsters and where their dad went when he left them. Night after night Sam laid awake worrying, one fear following another and making sleep impossible. When he tried to explain the problem to his brother, Dean shrugged. “I dunno, Sammy. Worrying doesn’t help anything, so don’t do it.”

Sam just looked at him, his eyebrows disappearing beneath his shaggy bangs and his expression split between puppy-dog hopefulness and hardened skepticism.

“Just, you know, think about something else. Now seriously, go to sleep.”

With that, Dean turned off the light, rolled over, and closed his eyes.

In retrospect, Sam knew his brother was probably overwhelmed and just trying his best to comfort a scared kid. At eight, however, he took his big brother’s words to heart, and it worked better than Dean would ever know. Whenever Sam felt anxious and had trouble sleeping he made long, complicated lists about something completely unrelated. The more boring the topic the more effective the coping mechanism was. Sometimes he wrote them down, sometimes they were just in his head, but he never shared them with anyone.

Here are excerpts from a couple of them:

 

**Stuff I Need to Buy (as soon as I get my first pay check/work-study money):**

1) Dorm room basics

   a) Pillow

   b) Sheets and pillow case

   c) Comforter (the air-conditioning in the dorm is way too high)

   d) Cheap bookshelf (can I make this?)

   e) Single set of dishes

   f) Single set of silverware

   g) Travel mug for coffee

2) Food (cheap, non-perishable, and healthy if possible)

   a) Wheat bread

   b) Peanut butter

   c) Apples

   d) Oranges

   e) Bananas

   f) Beans

   g) Instant noodles (use the dorm microwave)

3) Books

   a) Math textbook

   b) Ethical Reasoning texts

   c) Biology textbook

   d) Psychology textbook

4) Computer (as soon as I can save up the money)

**Things I can List Without Missing Dean:**

  1. The states in alphabetical order
  2. The states in the order they were founded
  3. All of the state capitols that I have been to
  4. All of the state capitols that I haven’t been to
  5. The elements of the periodic table in order of atomic number
  6. Ancient languages by chronology of first written record
  7. Ancient languages by chronology of last written record
  8. Monsters with cyclical hunting patterns by length of the cycle
  9. Monsters categorized by country of original lore
  10. Monsters categorized by chronology of first known description
  11. Monsters by closest related non-supernatural genus and species
  12. Religious holidays by country of origin
  13. Religious protective sigils by known effects
  14. Angels by hierarchy and choir
  15. Demons by biblical reference
  16. Types of alcohol by how frequently Dean drank them
  17. Ways to commit suicide organized by cost, danger to others, and efficacy



 

**Pros and Cons about Living in the Men of Letters Bunker:**

Location

   Pros:

      Privacy

      No rent/overhead

      Less money spent on gas

      Reliable internet

   Cons:

      Riskier to be staying in one place

      Not always efficient to come back to between hunts

      Less time spent in the Impala

      No conveniently accessible local produce

 

Library

   Pros:

      Amazing resources for solving cases

      New information to share with the world

      Access to fascinating lore

   Cons:

      Archival system is occasionally antiquated and unintuitive

      Analogue cross-referencing can be painfully slow

      Potential to spend too much time exploring tangential information rather than focusing on the hunt at hand

      Association with family history/drama

      Potential for someone else to find and/or destroy the information

 

Kitchen

   Pros:

      Dean’s cooking is amazing

      It makes Dean happy

      Dean makes the best burgers ever (yes, they deserve their own list entry)

   Cons:

      Needing to do the dishes and clean the kitchen (Not that I’m lazy, but I need _something_ for the cons column)

 

Bedroom

   Pros:

      It makes Dean happy

      The memory foam holds a place for me at my brother’s side

   Cons:

      Dean’s anal about keeping it clean

      The picture of Dean and mom hurts


End file.
